danielhkwan
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Anything But D&D #7: Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio
🕑 Added 2020-11-07 02:31:51 +0000 UTCI'm back with a short episode of Anything But D&D! Things get a bit...spooky!
Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio is a collection of classical Chinese stories written by Pu Songling during the Qing dynasty - the last Imperial Chinese dynasty. It's a collection of short stories that deal with the supernatural and divine. While it features a variety of ghosts, demons, and animals, the author's stories primarily focus on the everyday life of commoners in China and how they are at the mercy of the supernatural (which represented real problems in society like corruption).
There is a free English translation available through Project Gutenberg - the original 1880 translation by an English sinologist named Herbert Giles. Unfortunately, this version was influenced by late 19th century English mannerisms and social norms - which led Giles to omit content related to sex and intense gore from his translation efforts. Fortunately, Penguin Classics published an updated translation that apparently doesn't pull any punches.
Comments
Daniel Kwan
Thanks Walter! I'm looking forward to putting out a new episode this month!
Great content and I like the format. The longer interview episodes are wonderful in a different way. I really appreciate how for this one, you kept it short and filled it with interesting new plot hook ideas. I'd love to see you continue to mix it up.
Daniel Kwan
Yeah, I really like the idea of characters receiving wounds, or legacies from their participation in violence. It makes you think about the consequences of your actions!
